Plastic bags are usually made to carry shopping in and a can of coke is normally used for drinking.

But owners of a recycling shop in Brighton have different ideas. Why not wear a can of coke or even use it as an ashtray?

Staff at Podz in Gloucester Road sells goods which are out of the ordinary and don't buy their products from the usual wholesalers.

They go to places like Kenya, South Africa, and Malawi for their goods. It is all part of a policy to buy recycled novelty items from developing countries to improve their quality of life.

The shop was set up by Zena Hodges and her two daughters Jackie and Jo Singer about two years ago.

Jo, 39, said: "I had been travelling around the world and saw, in shanty towns and little villages, women who sold things out of anything they could get their hands on.

"I was deeply touched by this and when my mother set up the business we thought it would be a nice way to raise money for the developing world.

"We buy the goods from an organisation called Fair Trade, which makes sure all the money goes back to the poor people that make them and not into the pockets of the middle man."

Jo's husband is South African and he developed the first initial contact with Fair Trade. Now the shop sells all sorts of African goods.

It is so popular Podz plans to move its base from Gloucester Road and on to the seafront near the West Pier. They are also going online at www.cluckclick.com -so people worldwide can pick up the unique gifts.

These include ornamental chickens made out of recycled plastic bags, dessert bowls made out of telephone wire, cans of coke used as caps and waste bins made out of bottle tops.

Jo said: "The chickens have come from Wola Nani, a women's co-operative in Cape Town. The money we paid for them will go towards helping babies with AIDS.

"Our family has always been into environmental issues and we have always valued the importance of recycling.

"None of us had a background in running shops. My mum worked in the community, my sister was a nurse and I have raised three children.

"We have always wanted to give something back into this world and this is our opportunity. We sell lots of stuff and the chickens are especially popular."